Demonstration experiences > Bellús Reservoir (Spain)
Bellús Reservoir
(Spain)
Description
The Bellús reservoir is a hydraulic infrastructure located in the province of Valencia, in Spain. It is located in the Vall d’Albaida region, in the Albaida river basin, between the municipality of Bellús and the neighbouring town of Benigánim. It was built in 1995 on an area of 703 hectares, with a maximum capacity of 69 hm³ and a maximum depth of 34 m. The Bellús reservoir is mainly used to supply water for irrigation and water management in the region and to prevent flooding, helping to control the flooding of the Albaida River in periods of intense rain.
Current situation
The Bellús reservoir is characterised for its low-quality water due to effluent discharge of industrial areas, into the Albaida river. It is operated by the Water Consortium of Jucar. The only activity carried out in the reservoir is recreational fishing. During the 2017-2021 period, the reservoir presented a maximum of 61.39 μg/L of Chl a, a minimum of 24.59 micrograms, with an average value of 38.21 μg/L. Reading phycocyanin and for the same period, the maximum recorded value was 318.5 μg/L and the minimum 63.15, with an average value of 183.75 μg/L.
The reservoir water suffers from eutrophication, which is the abnormally high abundance of nutrients and/or nitrates due to excess fish fauna and pollution, leading to frequent toxic cyanobacteria blooms.
Actions to be carried out within the LIFE CYANOBLOOM project
In this demo site, periodic sampling campaigns will be carried out during 2025, monitoring the evolution of the cyanobacteria group within the reservoir. Also, installation of a WISPstation, which will collect hyperspectral field data coinciding with the in-situ monitoring will be done.
Expected results
The tool developed in cyanobloom, will allow the detection of any worsening change, or increase in the quality of the resource, allowing for much more complete, quick and easy monitoring.